GENGHIS KHAN(1987)
CAST
BACKGROUND TVB filmed this series in 1987 and it was only 10 episodes long. This is one of the few series that Felix Wong Yat Wah played an evil role. He was Genghis Khan's sworn brother Jak Mok Hup. Man Chi Leung was the lead as Genghis Khan. To Tai Yu and Lau Ching Wan played Genghis Khans warriors. Chan Ting Wai played Genghis Khan's brother Hak Sai Yee. Jie Ling plays Genghis Khan's wife, Foo Yee Tip. Kwan Lai Kit plays Song Quan. HISTORY Temujin (Tit Mok Jun), was born in 1167 AD. During his childhood his family and siblings experienced a hard life. His mother was the driving force behind the family and constantly reminded Temujin that "their are no friends in life only foes". Through his military expertise Temujin becomes the sole ruler of Mongolia in 1206 AD. Temujin then changed his name to Genghis, which means ruler of land the size of the ocean. Genghis died in 1227 AD, by this time he had conquered land stretching as far as Hungary, across most of Asia, and through Korea. His grandson Kubali Khan later conquered all of China and established the Yuan Dynasty. SUMMARY The story begins with Genghis Khan's old man conquering a section of Mongolia. He spares the life of a peasant on the day that his first son was born and asks for his name. In reply the peasant said his name was Tit Mok Jun and that was the original name given to his eldest son. The story then goes 18 years into the future and we see Tit Mok Jun and Hak Sai Yee out hunting and competing with each other all for fun. Then his half brothers join them and the eldest half brother who is intensely jealous of Tit Mok Jun steals a rabbit that Hak Sai Yee shot. They fight and nearly kill each other, Tit Mok Jun intervenes and was able to put a stop to it. Later on the eldest half brother is killed by Tit Mok Jun with an arrow, because he had attempted to kill Hak Sai Yee. Tit Mok Jun realized that his act was wrong and swore to protect his other half brothers life with his own life. This demonstrated his will and character and you get a sense of what this great man is all about. At 18 years of age Tit Mok Jun was now a threat to the throne and his farther's sworn brother who held it during Tit Mok Jun's childhood decide to chase after him and attempted kill off the whole family. The family was driven out and Tit Mok Jun was captured. He was latter saved by childhood friends, Cheut Lo Wan and his sister. During his escape from the warriors sent after him, he was saved by Jak Mok Hup (Wong Yat Wah). After saving his life they immediately wrestle, testing each other's might. Tit Mok Jun won, but just, and they became sworn brothers, breaking the arrow with the head going to Tit Mok Jun and the feather to Jak Mok Hup, to symbolize the event. Jak Mok Hup at the time was one of the 3 kings of Mongolia. After the ordeal Tit Mok Jun goes to marry the princess, Foo Yee Tip, promised to him during his childhood. However this same princess is the one that Jak Mok Hup loves. He is secretly jealous. After getting married and having lost his throne Tit Mok Jun, travels to one of his farther's sworn brothers Wong Hau, to lend forces to recapture what is rightfully his. This time he is refused by Wong Hau. Later Foo Yee Tip is captured by another tribe. Jak Mok Hup gets wind of this and immediately comes to the rescue. He joins Tit Mok Jun and together they go back to Wong Hau to lend more troops. Wong Hau, upon seeing that even a little king like Jak Mok Hup is willing to lend troops to Tit Mok Jun decides to save his face and lend troops also. Having rescued his true love, after she was raped, Tit Mok Jun decides to move to Jak Mok Hup's kingdom. At this kingdom Tit Mok Jun was looked down upon by all Jak Mok Hup's warriors, but welcomed like a King by the peasants. During the time in Jak Mok Hup's kingdom Tit Mok Jun is able to round up a group of loyal friends including the character played by To Tai Wai. Jak Mok Hup is not pleased and is jealous that Tit Mok Jun is more popular then him. Later Tit Mok Jun decides to leave after he finds out that Jak Mok Hup tries to rape his wife. However Jak Mok Hup refused to let him go unless he was able to win an arm wrestling match. Accordingly Tit Mok Jun wins and heads towards the desert. Loyal warriors from all over the land joined him. After attaining the help from his two uncles and borrowing more troops from Wong Hau, Tit Mok Jun was able to win his Kingdom back. Later Jak Mok Hup gets wind of Tit Mok Jun's victory and now realize that he is a threat to his ambition of conquering all of Mongolia. He attacks Tit Mok Jun with all his forces. However with Wong Hau helping Tit Mok Jun, Jak Mo Hup was beaten. However the cunning Jak Mok Hup refuses to admit defeat. Working on Wong Hau's eldest son, Song Qaun's hatred of Tit Mok Jun, Jak Mok Hup is able to convince Wong Hau to betray Tit Mok Jun. However their plot to kill Tit Mok Jun did not pay off. Although, Tit Mok Jun was badly injured. Wong Hau realized it was a mistake and returns to his land after being defeated. When Tit Mok Jun was healthy he ambushed and defeated Wong Hau, who was later killed trying to lend troops from another tribe. Jak Mok Hup was able to lend troops from another tribe and attack Tit Mok Jun again. But his efforts are fruitless and is defeated in the end. Not wanting to die like a coward, Jak Mok Hup challenges Tit Mok Jun To a duel. Jak Mok Hup is defeated on all fronts even battling on a camel. In the end Tit Mok Jun decides to set Jak Mok Hup free on the fact that Jak Mok Hup had once saved his life and is his sworn brother. However Jak Mok Hup refuses and demands that he be killed so that Tit Mok Jun can become Seng Gus Si Hon (Genghis Khan), which means ruler of the land the size of the ocean. RATING (6) TVB shot this movie in a different location to most of the other TVB Series. I did not see the usual town square being used once in this movie. In was shot somewhere in mainland China, which provided the perfect backdrop for the Serial as well as made in look medieval. This what I like most about the serial. It was relatively short at 10 episodes and therefore easy to watch. If you are a Wong Yat Wah fan who doesn't have much time but still want to watch one of his series then hire this out. The acting by the entire cast was superb. Even at 10 episodes their were many flat spots in the this serial. For example when he got captured and remembered his childhood. Also when Hak Sai Yee's wife gets killed by Jak Mok Hup. WONG YAT WAH AS JAK MOK HUP You can barley recognize Wong Yat Wah in this series particularly towards the end of the series. His costume featured white hair, beard and all with a banner on his head. This made him look the correct age for the character. At the beginning, when he first saved Tit Mok Jun's life, it was hard to believe a young man like him would be one of the 3 Kings of Mongolia. Wong Yat Wah looked really mean and nasty in this series. Not like his usual perfect and honorable heroic stature when he plays the heroic characters. He played the cunning, jealous, and ambitious Jak Mok Hup very well. This role demonstrated his ability to play other roles and his various talents. Therefore he is more versatile than Tony Leung and Andy Lau who where never casted as villains during the 1980's.
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